Sand Mountain Soiree features Southern Living’s James Farmer

An editor at large for Southern Living magazine will be in Rainsville on Saturday, Feb. 27, for the inaugural Sand Mountain Soiree at Northeast Alabama Community College.

The event with James Farmer will include a farm-to-table brunch, book signing and a demonstration speech.

In a news release, Chasley Bellomy, NACC’s event planner, says she first heard about Farmer in her junior year of college.

“His sister and I were at Auburn University at the same time, and I remember looking at her wedding pictures and thinking, ‘Who did those flowers?!’ Turns out, it was her brother, James. So since then, I have been following him on social media, through Southern Living and in the news.”

She contemplates the Sand Mountain Soiree as a cure for cabin fever that can see sufferers through to spring.

“I thought James would be the perfect fit for our community,” she says. “He was raised in an area like ours and grew up on his grandmother’s recipes. He enjoys gardening, designing, planting and cooking.”

Farmer indeed wears many professional hats: garden, floral and interior designer; cook; author; lifestyle expert. His presentations find him showcasing such skills as planning a summer picnic, using everyday items to create elegant tabletops, creating beautiful flower arrangements or making his grandmother’s skillet peach pie.

Farmer has published seven best-selling books on these topics and has appeared several times on “Today” with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, among other TV and radio segments.